Arvind Kejriwal puts onus of govt formation back on BJP and Congress

New Delhi 14th Dec, Kejriwal on Saturday met Delhi lieutenant governor Najeeb Jung, who will now send a report to the President of India.

However, it is not clear yet if Jung will recommend President’s rule in the national capital.

The Congress had offered “unconditional support” to AAP while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had also offered “constructive support to AAP”, saying it was ready to play the role of opposition.

“We had not sought support of either Congress or BJP. They have come forward with unconditional support. There is no such thing as unconditional support. But if they are offering us support, here are our conditions,” Kejriwal told reporters on Saturday after a meeting with Jung.

Kejriwal said he had written to both Congress president Sonia Gandhi and BJP president Rajnath Singh, asking them to spell out their respective party’s stand on 18 issues – such as empowering of mohalla sabhas to spend money on development works, passing of Janlokpal bill by December 29, audit of power discoms and eliminating the water mafia in Delhi.

He said AAP would wait for a response from the two parties and then ask for the people’s opinion by conducting mohalla sabhas (colony-level meetings).

“Only after knowing people’s opinion, will we be able to tell you whether or not we want to form a government,” Kejriwal said in a letter to Jung.

The BJP won the elections with 31 seats but fell short of a majority in the 70-member assembly. The AAP won 28 seats, while the Congress got just eight seats as votes were counted on December 8.

Two days ago, the BJP had been invited by the lieutenant governor but the party had simply stated it could not form a government due to lack of numbers. Jung then invited AAP for discussion on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the Congress on Saturday said it would examine Kejriwal’s letter and respond soon.

Congress general secretary Shakeel Ahmed told news agency IANS, “Sonia Gandhi has marked Arvind Kejriwal’s letter to me and we will frame a reply and respond to it in a day or two.”

But BJP leader Balbir Punj slammed Kejriwal for his “arrogance”.

“AAP wants to dictate terms to other political parties… What is this arrogance? The party has won 28 seats in the assembly elections but instead of thinking about how to form the government, the party leaders have been making allegations against other parties,” he said.